Hal Steinbrenner has vowed to make the 2011 Yankees a World Series-caliber team. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Hal Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ Managing General Partner and  co-chairman, took to the airwaves this afternoon and spent around 20  minutes chatting with Michael Kay and then Mike Francesa on New York’s  two sports talk radio stations. While keeping the Yanks’ offseason plans  close to the vest, Steinbrenner let slip a few choice words on the  playoff scheduling, Chuck Greenberg’s recent comments, the clubs’ payroll and the Yanks’ willingness to dip into the free agency pool.

We’ll start with the sexy stuff. Hal opened both interviews with his assessment of the team’s performance in the playoffs.  Both times, he blamed the days off in between the end of the ALDS and  the start of the ALCS. “We seemed a little bit cold in that series,” Hal  said of the ALCS. “I don’t know if it was the long layoff or not.” I’ll  have more on the playoff format and the unnecessary days off later  tonight, but the Yanks never seemed to click during the ALCS. Having to  stop play for six days probably didn’t help.

As a side note, Hal also called the 2010 season “very disappointing.”  I don’t find myself too disappointed by a six-game ALCS series even  though the Yanks lost. Counting the playoffs, they won 101 games this  year, tops among AL teams and just one fewer than the World Series  champion Giants. It was disappointing to see them go down against Texas,  but this was a fun season.

The Yanks’ co-owner shifted gears after that to talk about Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.  “We absolutely want [Jeter] back. We absolutely want Mo back,” he said.  Having said that, we’re running a business.” In fact, that’s a point  Hal stressed in both radio appearances. The Yanks are a business and  with Derek, the Steinbrenners want “a deal both sides are happy with.”

Hal seemed less nostalgic and sympathetic to the idea that Jeter  deserves a huge contract than either Kay or Francesa wanted him to be.  While noting that Derek is one of the all-time Yankee greats, he warned  Kay, “There’s always the possibility that things could get messy.” To  Francesa, he elaborated, “I want to get a deal done that he’s happy with  but also that I’m happy with.”

In addition to resigning their own players, the Yankees will be active in the free agent market.  Without naming specifics, Hal committed to spending the organization’s  money. “We are looking at the free agent market as we do every year,” he  said. “We certainly have money to spend and we’re going to look into  it.” The team’s payroll, Hal said, will likely be on  par with 2010′s though. So we shouldn’t expect too many big-ticket  purchases if the team adheres to that budget.

Steinbrenner also stressed the team’s strategy. The use the free  agent market to complement their youth movement, but they’re always  going to spend money. “The fans need to know we’re not putting money in  our pockets left and right,” he said. “We put most or all of it back  into” the team. He also mentioned that the Legends Suites were sold at  rates above 90 percent this year and that the franchise may adjust some  ticket prices for 2011.

Finally, Hal talked about Chuck Greenberg’s comments.  The Rangers CEO accused Yankee fans of being both violent and  apathetic, and the Bombers were prepared to retaliate. These were  “inappropriate, ridiculous comments,” Hal said. While the club accepted  Greenberg’s apology, Hal was fairly merciless. “Stupid comments…they  were inappropriate, “he said. “You need to apologize to our fans.”

At the end of both interviews, Hal said it was there intentions to  build up the 2011 Yankees a “World Series-type team.” Whether it be via  trade, free agency or both, the Yanks have a busy Hot Stove League ahead of them.